Richard Leonard Howard-Flanders (1882 – 1939) was an early British aircraft designer and manufacturer.

Early life

Richard Leonard Flanders (later Howard-Flanders) was born in Italy to British parents in 1882. He was educated at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

and then served an engineering apprenticeship at Brazil Straker and Company of Bristol. In 1909 he joined A.V. Roe before forming his own company (L. Howard Flanders Limited) at

Brooklands Aerodrome Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields ...

in 1910.

Aircraft designer

He designed a built a series of monoplanes including the

Flanders F.4 The Flanders F.4 was a 1910s British experimental military two-seat monoplane aircraft that was designed and built by Howard Flanders as a development of the Flanders F.3. Development Following success with the Flanders F.3 experimental mono ...

that was entered in the Military Trials of 1912. It was damaged and unable to compete in the trials. A small number of his aircraft were built for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Howard-Flanders had a serious motorcycle accident and during his convalescence his company had to close down. He joined the aircraft department of

Vickers Limited Vickers Limited was a British engineering conglomerate. The business began in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry and became known for its church bells, going on to make shafts and propellers for ships, armour plate and then artillery. Entir ...

and later in 1917 moved to the engine section. After he left Vickers he worked for a number of companies including

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

and the

Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable a ...

. In 1921 he was registered with the Teachers Registration Council when he was Assistant Master at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

from 1920 to 1923 In the 1930s he was secretary of the

British Gliding Association The British Gliding Association (BGA) is the governing body for gliding in the United Kingdom. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 80 gliding clubs (both civilian and service) which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members (i ...

Family life

Howard-Flanders married Millicent Franks in 1914, he died in 1939 in Bristol aged 56.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard-Flanders, Richard Leonard 1882 births 1939 deaths British aviation pioneers British aerospace engineers Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge British expatriates in Italy